First Native American to head National Endowment for the Humanities post forced out by Trump

March 13 (UPI) -- The National Endowment for the Humanities Chair Shelly Lowe, the first Native American to hold that job, was ousted Wednesday by the Trump administration, according to agency spokesperson Paula Wasley.

Wasley said in an email statement that Lowe left at the "direction" of the president.

She was replaced by Trump-designated NEH's current general counsel as acting chair until a permanent replacement can be appointed.

At the National Endowment for the Arts, NEH's sister agency, Maria Rosario Jackson resigned three days before Trump's inauguration. That agency is being run by interim chair Mary Anne Carter, who served in the first Trump administration.

Both agencies have been ordered by Trump to prohibit "promotion of discriminatory equity ideology" and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

The NEH move comes as the Trump administration continues mass firings and other actions to gut or diminish agencies Trump doesn't like under the stated purpose of rooting out fraud, waste and inefficiency.

The sweeping measures in Trump's first 100 days back in office, including the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, are being challenged vigorously in court.

The Trump administration has largely ignored Congress in an executive branch reshaping of government, including freezing funding including foreign aid appropriated by Congress through USAID.

The cuts have had cultural implications, as well.

Last month the board of the Kennedy Center was ousted by Trump so he could be named its chairman by the new board his administration installed. That new board included Vice President JD Vance's wife, Asha.

That is being perceived by many artists as the politicization of the arts and the use of government power to fight a so-called "woke culture" war on behalf of the far-right MAGA movement.

That move prompted singer and actress Isa Rae to cut ties with the Kennedy Center, citing what she said was "an infringement on the values of the institution."

The Trump administration has also moved to kill federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs by placing all federal DEI workers on leave.

The NEH awards federal grants -- totaling more than $6 billion since NEH was founded in 1965 -- to universities, heritage sites, museums and other recipients.